Greenwich Peninsula was once notorious as a place to see hanged pirates.

In the 18th century, convicted pirates were hung at Execution Dock, Wapping. Their bodies were then often displayed in prominent locations along the Thames in the hopes they would be seen by crews entering and leaving port and act as a deterrent.

Bugsby’s Hole on the west of the Peninsula was a popular site for display, and Pirate Williams was gibbeted here in 1735. These displays proved quite a popular attraction, and for one penny, locals could view the body.

The second illustration shown here was originally thought to depict the pirate Captain Kidd hanging from a gibbet in an iron cage.  However, Kidd’s body was hung up at Tilbury Point, near Gravesend and this scene features the masthouse of the Blackwall shipyard. It is therefore most-likely an illustration of one of the Blackwall gibbets on the Greenwich Peninsula.